Ladies and Gentlemen – we have a winner.
I never doubted for a second that Morishima Akiko-sensei would be the one. I had faith in her, in her ability to gently nudge the boundaries of “Yuri” until they started to blur the lines into “lesbian.” I’ve commented that several of her stories have started to shift in that direction. Notably, her story about the two office workers with a crush on the grease truck chef, and the unprecedented use of the phrase “Kocchi no ke.”
In Hanjuku Joshi, Volume 2 (半熟女子), Morishima has actually written a story that covers that last little piece – the gap between lesbian content and lesbian identity. Let me be very clear here – I do not meant that the characters identify as “lesbians.” I do mean that they acknowledge the challenge that loving another woman brings, and they struggle with the idea of loving that other woman in public. THIS is what I mean when I give Morishima the “Golden Lily” prize.
It’s not like Hanjuku Joshi is the first book ever to cover this area. It’s the first “mainstream Yuri” (if you will allow that) to do so in many years.
Because other reviewers will focus on the sex, let me sum that up in a line: there is sex in Hanjuku Joshi. It’s not actually the point of the story. It’s the icing on the cake.
The point of the story is acceptance – of one’s self, of one’s love, of one’s desire to live a normal, happy life with the person one loves…who just happens to also be female. And the point of the story is that it takes a LOT to get to the point where you can accept that, much less be fearless about expressing it in public. *That* is the point of this book. If you didn’t notice, because you were obsessing about the fuzzy handcuffs, that’s okay. The other point is that Morishima has integrated the main point seamlessly into a smut-filled story, for people just like you. ^_^
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 7
Overall – 9
Hanjuku Joshi turned out to be a pretty interesting series. I prefer Mari x Ran to Chitose x Yae, but some really critical conversations happen in this book and those were definitely worth the price of admission.
I also prefer Ran x Mari.
This volume is really cool.
Hanjuku Joshi is one of my most cherished Yuri stories. I agree completely.
Thanks for recommending this series! It’s an enjoyable read, and so interesting I couldn’t stop reading. I like both pairings and what Chitose did for Yae at the end of vol 2 is simply awesome in my book.
I must admit that I enjoyed this series immensely. I look at it’s concept of “same sex” relations in a positive light. I really would like to see someone here in the states would pick it up. I wanted to recommend this to Seven Seas (since they do release a few “Yuri” titles). I’d purchase it but it would be just my luck if it does get picked up. As this happens to me quite a bit. So now I wait. I hope that someone will pass this along to forums on their site. If it ever does get published here I’d buy it in a heartbeat. She’s becoming my second favorite “Yuri” artist next to ‘Takako Shimura’. They should release some other works by ‘Morshima Akiko’ as well.